Months Later
by Inkkerfuffle
Summary: Set after the events from Someone like you, Someone like me. In which there is a formal event, pretty dresses and creepy dudes all around.
1. Part I

I lied. I can't stay away from these crazy kids.

* * *

 **Part I.**

Somehow, this whole secret dating thing was working out just fine. It had been a couple of months, and they'd been working on setting some boundaries (as of now, there would be no Ladybug and Chat Noir kissing. Far too risky). They had managed to go on some dates, and with Paris being as big as it was, they'd yet to run into anyone they knew. As far as school was concerned, the game was _'how many kisses can one sneak upon the other'._ And so far, the answer was _plenty_. Marinette had no idea how their friends had not caught them just yet.

Yes. They _were_ going to tell their friends, but for now, the hormones had won out and they'd found that sneaking around was far too entertaining to let go just yet… for now. Besides, they were trying to balance all the other things that they had to do; such as school, their extracurricular activities, Marinette helping at the bakery and Adrien's modelling gigs; so they were enjoying their alone time for now. Also, They'd found a less conspicuous way for Marinette to sneak into his room, which was frankly large enough for them to lounge around and get at least their homework done.

The time alone had been great for getting to know Marinette better. Sure, sometimes still got flustered when he got too close, but she recovered quicker now. It had been illuminating. It had been easy to see the flashes of Ladybug coming into her civilian life. She joked, and poked fun at him; and she even rolled her eyes at him eyes when he got too cheesy. It was honest. And they were learning how to just relax and be themselves. Which of course, included plenty of kissing and snuggling.

This meant that Adrien could also relax when it came to her. He didn't need to boast and brag to get her attention; he already had it, and while Marinette was discovering that there was far more Chat in his true personality than she had expected; she… actually enjoyed it. She was learning just how alone he had been growing up; and she could see how the boy she liked was just an amalgam of so many little details that accounted for every part of his personality. Also, Adrien was a bit of a _cuddler_. She had not seen that coming.

They would both agree. It had been _illuminating_.

So far, in this past few months, they had fallen to a comfortable routine. They would spend a couple of afternoons a week watching movies, or working on their homework at Adrien's room. After all, his house was so much bigger than hers, and once he had his schedule for the day, unless he had a photoshoot, no one would bother them.

This meant that they were currently at Adrien's room, the blond sitting at his desk finishing his homework for the day, while Marinette, having finished what she had while Adrien was at fencing class, sat on the sofa in his room, sitting sideways, her legs stretched across the lenght as she read; he knew she wasn't going to interrupt him while he was doing homework. They were both aware that keeping their grades up would help the grownups in their life to be more at ease and basically… leave them alone for what they had to do.

Grounded heroes were _not good_ for Paris.

Adrien stood up, making his way to the sofa, sitting on the arm opposite Marinette, who was still quite into her book, and not paying any mind to Adrien.

This wouldn't do.

The blond edged closer, slowly moving on the couch. Yes, it was good that they both worked on their school things. However, Adrien had been working on his homework for almost _an hour,_ and he wanted some _attention._ He crawled on the couch, carefully avoiding her stretched legs, until his head was on the other side of her book, green eyes peeking on top of it. "I'm bored", he said before attempting to push the book down.

"Aaah!" she laughed, as she closed the book, marking the page with her index finger as a first attempt to save her book from the attack. "Waaait! I have to mark the page!" Marinette looked down at the couch, where her boyfriend had somehow managed to crawl pretty much all over her and was currently eyeing dangerously the obstacle between him and her attention… Marinette held the book above her head, her finger still marking the page she'd last read, doing her best to get it out of Adrien's reach. This of course, gave Adrien an open window to get very close to her, a feline grin lighting up his face as his fingers ghosted over her sides.

"No!" she said, squirming in anticipation "don't youdare!" She warned her boyfriend as she used her free hand to quickly rummage through her pockets, trying to find something before he attacked. "Waaait!" she laughed, as she found an old receipt, which she quickly used as a bookmark in replacement of her finger and closed the book, dropping it carefully by the side of the couch, she'd learned that it was a lost battle to try to get anything done when something like this happened.

Objectively, she didn't mind; she would have told him so if she did. After all, she'd been pretty much waiting for him to get his homework done, using the time to get ahead on some school reading.

"I'm bored" he said, resting his cheek on her shoulder, his long body stretched out all over the couch, though he took particular care on not crushing her with his weight.

She laughed. "You're such a cat" she said, poking him on the ribcage.

The blond squirmed, "I'm your cat though" he said, flashing his best charming look at her, which caused Marinette to roll her eyes.

She rolled her eyes, "Dork" This earned Marinette a renewed tickle attack "nooo" she said, between fits of giggles and squirming to get away. She pressed her arms to her sides, though it did little to stop him, so there was one other way to stop him, still laughing she grabbed his face and began planting kisses on him. It usually distracted him. "I'm Sorry! Sorry" she said, giggling between kisses. "Adrieeen". It was rather hard to kiss someone while one was laughing and the other grinning, but the intention was there, and she could try and be very through.

He loved her laugh. It was just so free. Before all thishad turned into a reality, it was something he just saw from afar, and usually when she hadn't noticed he was in the near vicinity. However, he was not going to disagree with her defense tactics, he approved wholeheartedly. And yes, he was going to stop tickling her but if she wanted to try and stop him with kisses, he was not complaining. He had already learned the hard way that there was a thin line between 'fun, tickling time' and'getting hit in the face because she can't handle it'.

In her defense, she hadn't meant to hit him and she had been very apologetic after the fact.

Now laughing from his position, he held up his hands and gave her another kiss just for good measure. He considered himself the winner of this round.

Once the giggles had subsided, they settled on the couch; but not before some mutual shifting and shimmying, Adrien assumed what had become his favorite position, and was resting against Marinette, his head settled against a pillow on her stomach.

"So" he began, "We're sticking with the plan for tomorrow?"

Tomorrow, yes. It was the end of the year formal, with every student in their Lycée in attendance. Since their budding relationship was yet to be unveiled at school, they had talked on how it was probably a better idea to keep it quiet for a little bit longer. Besides, they hadn't really told their best friends… which was probably something they needed to work on. They had to notice at least something. Marinette wasn't a stuttery mess around Adrien, and the blond wasn't even subtle in his attempt at spending time with them. Group lunches had become the norm now.

"I'm thinking yes" she said, maybe they needed to just get on with it and tell them. "I wanted to try and tell her before, but she had already planned the afternoon for prep" Prep of course, meaning hair and makeup. And obviously Alya would have insisted that they went together, not wanting to stand in the way, and she didn't really want to leave her best friend on her own when they had already made plans together. That was just not cool.

"We should probably do that tomorrow" he said, green eyes closed, as his own fingers drew endless patters above her knee. Yes, this was much better than sitting at his desk. He craned his neck, to look at her face "Alya has really not said anything to you?" The girl wasvery perceptive. Granted, sometimes she got it completely wrong (Chloe? Ladybug? Come on now); but she had gotten his identity right ages ago. She just didn't have the confirmation and seemed to have dropped the topic.

"I… really don't know "she said, frowning as she pondered more about it "I think she should know, but she usually would have said something before. Then again she jumps to conclusions way too fast sometimes," She pursued her lips, pondering other alternatives. "She does get really focused when she's set on something, so it just be that."

That could be it. "We could just tell them together" he said. Less of a tell, more of a show?

The corner of her lip quirked up as she pondered that particular possibility. She would like to see the look on their friends' faces though "That might not be a bad idea" she said. "It might be funny to see how they react"

* * *

The next day, right after school, Marinette and Alya settled in the redhead's room; set on getting ready for their school's event. They were finishing up their hairstyles and soon would move on to getting their makeup done.

"Don't move!" Marinette chastised, her attention split between her friend, and the screen on her laptop, where a girl on YouTube gave out instructions that seemed far easier that what they were actually attempting "or I'm going to end up stabbing you in the scalp with this bobby pin"

"Okay, okay!" Alya sat still for a couple of seconds, wincing as Marinette pulled a bit too hard, finally relaxing when she was done with that particular part of her hair. Maybe they should have tried being a little less ambitious with their styles.

Alya turned towards her friend, who was reviewing the next part of the video, rewinding it to watch it few times, until she could feel confident enough to try it on Alya "So." the redhead began, ready to have a bit of a more complicated conversation, since they hadn't had enough time on their own lately. Marinette had offered to make both of their dresses, and Alya knew her enough to know that she would be in the Zone and there was no point in attempting any sort of conversation. And at school, they had barely had enough time on their own to chat it seemed that their little friend group had grown from the two of them to a foursome. "Adrien seems prettyfriendly nowadays" Alya looked at Marinette, trying to gauge the other girl's reaction.

Well, this was had been expected "Uh Yeah, I guess" she said, flushing slightly as she devoted her attention to the screen, doing her best to seem as casual as possible.

"and…" she began "You seem really comfortable around him now"

This was a chance to come clean. Just tell her. But they had said that they'd be telling them later tonight. "We've been talking a lot" Not a lie. "we're…getting to know each other" Also not a lie.

"So, is the dilemma, solved now?" Alya asked, referring to her friend's earlier crisis about liking two people at the same time. "Ouch"

"Sorry!" Marinette apologized "Almost done" she pursued her lips in concentration as she finally tied up the last bit of Alya's hair. "Yeah, It is." she said fighting the small quirk on her lips. She would have had a dilemma about liking the same boy.

"Adrien won, didn't he?"

Marinette blushed, leave it to Alya to be so… blunt about it. "Yeah…"

Well, Alya would have liked meeting whoever it was that got her doubting her crush, but she had to admit it, seeing Marinette interact as a _normal human being_ with Adrien, had her kind of rooting for the two of them. Besides, she was sure that it was a mutual thing; and that something had to happen soon enough.

So yeah. Alya _shipped it._

"Alright, I need to make sure everything won't fall apart before we make it there, and you're ready" Marinette announced, arming herself with a bunch of bobby pins "So stay still"

The two friends fell into a comfortable silence, as the girl from the YouTube video continued her instructions and advice, the noirette haired girl was carefully examining her handiwork, tugging here and there to make sure everything was settled well enough. The idea was that it was able to withstand at least the first dance. If Marinette had to be honest, Alya's hair was turning out great. Now she just had to make sure that…

"I think Nino wanted to ask me to go with him" Alya blurted out and Marinette's eyes widened, this was… new.

"How do you know that?"

"I just do. He was being really weird and then just… changed the topic"

Marinette officially paused the video. What… had she missed? "Did you want him to ask you?" she probed gently; sure, she had been kind of lost in her own Chat Noir/Adrien daze, but she had liked to think that she was balancing things nicely. Apparently not.

"I think so. I don't know. _Maybe"_ Alya pursued her lips, the thing was, that while Alya thought that she did like him, their interactions had always had a certain ease to them, unlike what she'd witnessed firsthand with Marinette. And sometime she couldn't help but wonder whether she just didn't work that way. Sure, she did hope that she'd find someone to fall head over heels for, but somehow it had yet to happen in the world stopping way it seemed to happen to her best friend. "It's just… we've always been close, you know?" They had known each other since they were children, same with Marinette, but somehow the other two had a different bond. "So I've never really been awkward around him. So I don't really know what that means" She glanced at Marinette, who shrugged a little.

"What are you going to do?" Marinette asked.

"Well," Alya said, her eyes glancing to where the two dresses were hanging "With that dress you made, I'm sure he's going to _wish_ he did"

* * *

The ball had already started an Adrien was already with Nino in the ballroom, cheerfully catching up with his best friend as he glanced at the door every now and then. Marinette had still not arrived. Now if he had looked at his friend, who was eyeing his phone every now and then, he would have had a much better 'estimated time of arrival on that.

After a while the two girls entered the ballroom, arm in arm, "Mari" Alya said, "I love this" and Marinette couldn't help but feel proud at her work. Sure, she might have stayed up longer than she should have, and yes, she was a little sleep deprived this past month. But the dress looked just as she had imagined it, and she couldn't be any prouder. The dark storm blue complimented both her hair and complexion, and the silk chiffon flowed beautifully with every step the girl took. After some talking with Alya, and several reviews of the design, they had settled with a flattering V neckline, which tied in a faux bow on her right shoulder. The flowing skirt reached the floor, and her waist was accentuated with a small belt in a bright satin, with some embroidered beads that shimmered in the light.

"We should get something to drink" She said, as she looked around, supposedly looking for the refreshments bar. Of course, what she was looking for was the general location of her boyfriend. She spotted him easily; years of glancing around for him had kind of given her atalent when it came to that. And it seemed that he was a fan of her look as well, judging by the sudden widening of his eyes once he'd seen her. "Hi" she mouthed, one of the corners of her lips quirking in a small smile. Sure, she had worked really hard on this (her index finger had been stuck so many times she was sure she'd lost all feeling on it).but the look on his face was a good reward.

"Guh" He was _speechless_. Her dress was simple, but most definitely not ordinary. She looked… absolutely radiant, her hair for once was down, wavy and free, and styled more to the side, pinned back with a flowery pin behind her right ear. The dress' fabric was a dark rich deep shade of red; a tad darker than the shade he was used on seeing on her as Ladybug. The dress was strapless, and the silhouette was formfitting enough that it accentuated her small waist and the tight fit continued right until a little past her hips, where it began flaring down until the reach the floor; the fabric swishing around gently as she moved. Her neck was bare, but just beside the bodice of the dress, began a delicate red embroidery that crossed or the way to her left shoulder, looking like tiny jewels adorning her left collarbone and shoulder.

He shouldn't find it so _enticing;_ he saw her in a _catsuit_ almost on a daily basis, for crying out loud.

But before he could walk towards her, he was surprised by a flurry of pink silk tweed and blonde hair that quickly attached to his neck.

 _"Aadrien_!" the overtly saccharine voice of Chloé Bourgouise just confirmed who he knew was the source of the attack. "You look absolutely wonderful tonight!"

"Uh, Hey Chloe" he said, shifting uncomfortably as he did his best to detach her arms from around his neck, and giving his friend a pained glance. Nino raised his hands up in defeat; fully aware that there was nothing he could possibly do about this and merely took a step back.

"I'm just going to go…" he pointed in the general direction of where Alya and Marinette had gone off to; but at the pleading look in Adrien's face, he had a change of heart "Fine…." he sighed as he backed away from the scene to wait for the moment that the blond managed to send Chloe on her way.

The thing about Chloe was that she was not a person to hear the word "no" very often, and despite _everything,_ Adrien hated being rude, even if Chloe wrote the book on rudeness; but right now, the blonde was the cause that his _girlfriend_ was clearly keeping her distance right now, and he wanted to solve that.

Chloe was dressed in a very expensive looking pink ball gown; a strapless number with an asymmetric bodice and folds on the front; the skirt was full; which meant that most students created a security area around the girl, knowing that stepping on it would set off the blonde's rage.

"I still don't know why we didn't come here together" She said, lacing her arm with his in a clear attempt to at least make it seem that they'd be together.

Detaching from Chloe was a herculean task. The blonde's movements were fluid and casual as she continuously imposed her company on him. "Uh Chloe, I'm… excuse me for a second" he said, trying to turn away from the blonde girl, but that was almost impossible to do.

"We have to dance later" she said, fingers attaching themselves to the lapel on his jacket. "We are the best looking people in this place you know. Adrien disagreed with her on that point, but he just needed to get away from her without Chloe causing a scene.

"Ummm… right" he muttered, squirming away "excuse me" he said, finally managing to squirm away from the grabby blonde, and heading towards where Nino was.

Marinette, however, was not happy. Not that she didn't trust Adrien, since she did completely, but come on, Chloe was the absolute _bane of her existence._ Still… she would not make a scene either, so she gritted her teeth and carried on with her evening. He was clearly trying to get away from her, and she would meet up with him soon. Of course she had forgotten to account for Chloe freaking Bourgeois in their 'Let's just attend separately' plan. Chloe would definitely seize the chance to make a move on the blond model. And since their relationship was still a secret… she just had to grin and bear it.

And of course, somewhere during her moment of silent rage, she'd found she'd lost Alya in the crowd. Maybe she'd found Nino? She refused to turn towards where she'd last seen Chloe, lest she started getting angryagain. Figuring she needed to regroup and cool down, she decided that she needed to check on Tikki, to give the little kwami a chance to move around a little bit before being locked back inside the purse. Sure, it was bigger than her usual, and it was mostly for Tikki's benefit, but she cared about the kwami enough to care about her comfort.

She figured she needed a minute to regroup, so she decided to find a bathroom or somewhere emptier to check on Tikki, and give the little kwami a chance to move around a little bit. Marinette had almost made it through the door when she heard someone speak to her.

"Hello there!"

Huh? Marinette turned around to find herself facing two older students. "Hey…" she said, recognizing the students as two upperclassmen. One of them was tall, dark haired, and objectively speaking, quite handsome. The other was blond, good-looking as well, taller than her, but not quite as tall as his friend, but stockier. He probably did some sport requiring a lot of strength training. She was sure they two went to their Lycée. She just didn't know their names, having never interacted with them before.

"You're… Marianne, right?" And clearly they didn't know her name either.

"Marinette" she corrected, not quite sure what was happening here "… I don't know your names" she confessed. No reason to lie about it.

That didn't faze them in the slightest. "Oh, I'm Émile" the dark haired one said, "and my friend here is Philippe" The aforementioned Philippe, nodded his head, smiling at Marinette "We were just wondering, how is it that a pretty lady like you came all alone to the party."

"I didn't" she said "I came with my best friend," unfortunately she couldn't find Alya to bail her out smoothly out of this situation. First Chloe throwing herself at Adrien and now these two creeping on her. Ugh. It was far too early for all of this.

"Well" Émile said, reaching for her hand and brushing his lips on the back of her hands. "I can keep you company until she gets back" he said "Or we could go on the dancefloor while she appears…" he suggested, giving a slight tug on her arm.

Blue eyes widened slightly… Alright then, this was a bitmuch. "Um… Thank you" Marinette said, retrieving her hand back, her back tensed as she tried to keep her distance "I think I'll just go and get something to drink." She said, immediately regretting her choice for an excuse.

"Well I can go get something to drink and meet you here beautiful" he offered, winking at her, which was a gesture she realized she did not appreciate from anyone other than Adrien and well… Chat; which was all the same.

"Oh, no don't…" she began, but they clearly didn't care about what she had to say, so she sighed, rolled her eyes and turned to walk away. She'd vent to Tikki in a bit.

Emile and Phillipe looked at each other and the blond nudged his friend, as he laughed "Dude. What are theyfeeding these girls" the blond muttered, snickering as they looked at Marinette's retreating figure. "The girls in our grade do not look like that"

The other one, Émile, laughed "that's the best part of these things" he said "a lot of these girls are all romance starved. It's easy pickings, or at least a moment to lay the groundwork for more,"

"She seems shy though"

"You know what they say about the shy ones…"

Meanwhile, Alya had caught up with Nino and Adrien and was currently looking at what could possibly become a double homicide. While Alya was definitely disgusted, (because seriously, why were some guys that gross?). She was glad that Marinette had definitely noticed just howcreepy they were, which was obviously been why she'd left them. What she had thankfully missed was the lewd gestures and comments they had made behind her back.

And if Alya was disgusted, Adrien was positively _seething_ with fury. The blond jaw was locked as he stared daggers at the two. Alya glanced at Nino, a worried look in her eyes. They had to distract the blond or else this whole evening would end before it actually began.

"Adrien" Nino warned, nudging at his friend's arm. Adrien picking a fight with either or both of them would do no good to anyone. Alya joined in, carefully placing a hand on his arm as Nino added "They're just dicks, dude. It's not worth it"

The blond took a deep breath and without another word, walked away and into the people leaving his two friends behind and not quite sure what to do. "This could be bad" Alya said, gripping Nino's arm as they watched the scene unfold. Clearly, there was no steering Adrien away from what he'd set out to do. Surprisingly, walked right past the two creeps (though he would later admit that it took a lot of restraint on his part), ignoring how they recognized him with an "hey, that's the model kid!" and just went towards Marinette, who turned around with an annoyed look on her face, her expression relaxing when she saw it was Adrien.

"Hey" she said, warmly smiling up at him before noticing the look on his face "Whats wr…" she was not able to finish her sentence, because Adrien simply reached for her, one hand going to her waist, pulling her to him swiftly, as his other hand reached to cup her face as he kissed her. Why? Because he _could,_ damn it.

His lips were firm and insistent but she couldn't help but melt against him, as usual. She had _not_ seen this coming. Sure, they had agreed that they were going to tell their friends and all that, and that they weren't going to hide anymore; but… she had not expected him to just go for her. His hand was firm on her waist and it was _pretty nice._ Almost enough to fix her previous bad mood at the lousy start the evening had had. It was a short kiss, by their current standards but he was sure that it got the point _across._ He would have turned around to see whether the two idiots got the message (off limits); but he was sure they were watching.

At the slightly dazed and questioning look on her face, he said "Can we talk outside?" At her nod, he placed his hand on her waist and the two of them left the ballroom, for the somewhat empty hallway outside of one of the doors.

The door closed behind them and Marinette turned towards her boyfriend, one eyebrow raised in silent question, "those two…" he began, slightly more at peace now, but still very annoyed.

Ah. _That. "_ Adrien… They were idiots, it was obvious" She sighed in annoyance, "I handled it" Honestly it wasn't the first time, someone had acted like an idiot around her. There was even a guy who had been akumatizedbecause of it. It came with the territory, they supposed, public figures and all that. It was however, the first time attention like that was directed toMarinette. "You know I can take care of myself" Even if they had tried something on her… it would have not gotten very far.

"I know that. And that's not really it…" he rubbed his face, continuing when he saw the look on his girlfriend's face. "I know can _handle_ yourself but… you didn't see it" He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, still annoyed. "The things they were saying, like you were easy prey for them…" She was _miles_ above their league. They weren't fit to look at her, much less talk. Added that to the flurry of frustration he had felt earlier… it had been a recipe for disaster. She looked absolutely beautiful and he'd yet to tell her that… all because a couple of morons had ruined the start of what should have been a nice evening. "I… all I wanted when I saw you was just go up to you and kiss you and then…"

Yes. Chloe and the two morons. "Adrien they're _creepy_. I don't think that knowing that I had a boyfriend would have stopped them from saying something gross."

Adrien sighed. She had a point there.

She placed her hands on the side of his face "You don't have to jealous…" she pointed. "Things like this will keep on happening. You model. You have fangirls who will probably not be very nice about my existance" As Chat and and as Adrien "I can't just go over and plant one on you whenever I get jealous"

"You _could_ " he offered, earning himself a swat on his chest. "I know Chloe being… _Chloe_ annoyed you" he said, he had seen her walk away after all, and the look on her face read so clearly 'I am counting to one thousand to calm down'. He had learnt to read her face while the mask was on. Of course he could understand it once it was off. The girl gritted her teeth slightly, and Adrien took it a small victory. "You were jealous too" he grinned, causing Marinette to square her shoulders and shake her head in denial.

"I was not!" she said "I was annoyed. There's a _difference"_ And she would dig her heels in defense of that point.

He did enjoy the idea of her jealousy a little; and to be honest, he hoped that Chloe would also take the hint once she saw he was also quite unavailable. But yes, he had to concede something here too "And fine, I was jealous" he conceded and the admission earned him a smile as her arms slide up his chest to rest on his shoulders.

She stepped on her toes to kiss him softly; "you don't have to mark me in front of other people, you know" she told him, her hands softly stroking the back of his neck "I'm with you" She smiled at him, as he leaned and rested his forehead against her, enjoying the closeness for a second, before she remembered what else she had to add to this conversation. "Also, kiss me again just to prove a point to other people and I swear…"

He gave her a sheepish smile. "Point taken". This was not the time to mention that it was a pretty good kiss, if he did say so himself.

"We should probably go back" Marinette said, beginning to turn around towards the door. There wasn't many people around, which meant that they were about to officially start the party and the dancefloor too.

"Yeah" he said, holding on to her hand as she began to walk towards the door, tugging on it slightly; at her questioning look, he lifted their hands over her head and lead her into a twirl; which she did with an amused laugh. He grinned at her, pulling her back towards him again.

"Silly cat" she mouthed at him.

"You look beautiful" he said, his tone honest; and she couldn't help the bashful look that appeared on her face "I just… needed to say that before we go back to the crazy people in there" He looked at her, admiring the way her blush tinged her cheeks pink, before pulling her closer for another kiss.

He was, after all, pretty sure he couldn't get away with kissing her like he wanted once they were inside

* * *

There wasn't just a couple of disappointed creeps; but two other teenagers who had their own particular reaction to the very, very spontaneous display of attention. Nino and Alya were staring at the door that had just closed blinking in absolute disbelief. "Did hejust…?" Alya said "He totally did… oh my God" Her mind was currently torn between congratulating Marinette and murdering her for clearly hiding this

"did you know about this?" asked Nino, looking at Alya who simply shook her head, before a very determined look lit up her face "What are you thinking?" he asked her before his hand was seized by the feisty redhead and dragged towards the door that the couple had just slipped through. Now, he wanted to poke fun at Adrien and all that, but he wasn't sure he wanted to see whatever was going on behind that door.

"Come on!" said Alya. tugging along his hand as they got to the door. "I'm getting answers"


	2. Part II

They should have seen it coming, really. Marinette _knew_ Alya. Their little moment here? It was bound to end explosively. The couple was just breaking apart from their kiss when the door opened in a swift movement.

"I knew it!" She gave Marinette a look " _just talking_ my ass"

 _Busted_.

The pair turned to where a very satisfied Alya and a quite relieved Nino were standing (he _really_ didn't want to bust into his friends' making out). Marinette and Adrien shared a look before he shrugged and placed his arm on her shoulders. He was pretty sure they already saw his jealous display of affection, so there was no need to hide anymore.

Marinette, however was a bit more apologetic towards Alya "I…kind of was going to tell you today, when we were at your house, but I got _distracted"_

Alya's eyes widened slightly, remembering their earlier conversation. " _Alright_ then. Then I'll just say I'm happy you _finally_ got your crap together, the teenage longing was getting a bit much" Alya said, before finally adding "And I'm just going to tell you that if you'd held off on your secret for just… _one more week_ , you wouldn't have cost me fifty euro"

What? They had a bet going? " _Seriously_?" Adrien deadpanned towards Nino who simply shrugged.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time…" answered Nino, before adding "thanks by the way"

Marinette didn't even have it in her to be annoyed. _First_ , she was glad that the secret was finally out; and _second_ , that everyone was being so normal. Well, as normal as they usually could be. "I think we should just go back inside" Marinette said, "I think everything is about to start"

The group of friends made their way inside the ballroom, Adrien's hand resting on Marinette's shoulders. It was public now, he didn't care who he saw. The music was starting and the students were heading towards the dance floor. Adrien and Marinette began walking towards the group, before she paused and looked towards their two friends "Are you guys coming?"

The pair in question looked at each other in question before shrugging their shoulders "In a bit" Alya said… as of now, she'd prefer to give the little lovebirds some space. _Before_ they started being all lovey and gross.

* * *

Sabrina was Chloé's best friend. She would help the blonde with achieving everything she desired. It had been a part of her everyday life for so long, that she just wasn't sure how to function without that part of her life. Not that Chloé noticed her efforts, most of the time. The blonde mostly noticed when something went wrong. And judging from what Sabrina was seeing, something was about to go very, very wrong.

It was no secret that Chloé liked Adrien. Unfortunately, Adrien was currently not only dancing but making googly eyes at Marinette. Out of every girl that could have been on the receiving end of his attention; Marinette was the absolute worst, Chloé was going to _freak out._ Sabrina had tasked herself with creating a path for Chloé to walk through without any problem. But at the sight of their classmates… she _froze_.

Chloé of course, was lost in her own daydream. Adrien hadn't said no to the dance (who would tell her no, really), so she was about to collect on that promise when she crashed into Sabrina's back. "Hey!" Chloé said, thoroughly annoyed at her friend "Move it Sabrina, jeez". The meek redhead turned her wide eyed look at her best _friend_ , and Chloé attempted to look for what Sabrina had been looking. And it was then, that the blonde girl _saw it._

Adrien, her perfect _future boyfriend_ , Adrien Agreste was dancing with Marinette Dupain Cheng. That… girl, who was not worthy of _this_ amount of good luck. There was nothing _special_ about her; her parents were _bakers_ , for crying out loud. She was so _plain._ Not like her, Chloé Bourgeois was _anything_ but plain. She was the mayor's daughter! She was a socialite!

And then… Adrien had leaned over and kissed her. He had _kissed Marinette._ Right there where _everyone_ could see them. Her delicate hands gripped her dress and she decided to head over there. But thankfully, Alya was on top of things.

If there was anything one could say about Alya, was that she was a good friend. Sure, she was going to _corner_ Marinette and get _every single detail_ from the girl and just _why_ she'd kept this a _secret!_ But yes, now that Marinette was finally together with Adrien, she was not going to let their resident spoiled girl ruin their first public outing. "Chloe, don't you dare!" Alya said, stepping in front of the blonde girl.

Now, Chloe would have pushed past Alya and done what she wanted anyway; but there was far too many people watching. It was too public, and you couldn't really play victim when there was _evidence_. She'd have to do something _later._ Chloe glared at Alya, her blue eyes narrowed, "Whatever" she said, sneering down at the other girl before turning around and hurrying away, stumbling back into Sabrina who was behind her, "Sabrina get out of my way!" she pushed the meek redhead out of the way, spilling the fruity drink that the redhead was holding right on top of her dress. "Ugh _._ You are just so _useless!"_

Sabrina should have _warned_ her! Or _something. A_ s of now, it was easier to blame her _friend;_ at least until she figured out a way to get back at that …girl.

Once Chloe had left the scene, the people around them went right back to their own groups. After all, Chloé Bourgeois throwing a fit was an everyday occurrence; and if her venomous behavior hadn't been directed to anyone…It just wasn't worthy of anyone's attention.

Other than Sabrina. Of course.

But no one looked at the redhead, the front of her mint colored dress stained with the remains of the orangey drink. Sabrina only looked as Chloe left somewhere, not even looking behind to see if her friend was there, and no one made a right move to see if she was ok.

Just like always, _really_.

But her dress, it was completely ruined, so the girl hurried towards the bathroom, and glanced at the reflection in the mirror. Her dress was stained, and she could see where her skin was sticky with the sugary drink. Even the brooch was destroyed, the flowers silky petals stained with orange and red. It was a present from her parents! Just for this party! And unlike _Chloé,_ she didn't get jewelry on a regular basis. She dampened a paper towel and dabbed at her skin and dress, but the damage was already done. Her eyes stung with angry tears as she rinsed it under the faucet, her anger, and frustration calling out to Hawkmoth.

"Spotlight" Hawkmoth said as a dazed look appeared on the girl's face. "You've been ignored, disrespected. It seems like no one cares about what happened to you…" The outlines of a butterfly appearing in front of her bespectacled face. "I can help you get the respect, the attention you _deserve_ , do you want my help?"

"Yes"

* * *

"That was surprisingly easy"

Nino shrugged "Who knows with Chloé, really" he said, the way the blonde's head worked was a mystery to everyone. "At least she didn't make a mess in here, so that's always good" The boy rubbed the back of his head. Unbeknown to him, Alya had been correct in her interpretation of their interactions during the previous weeks. He _had_ tried, but even if she was a girl he'd know his whole life, Alya could _definitely_ be intimidating. She was just so _assertive_ sometimes that he wasn't quite sure on how to react with her. Besides, his flirting skills were almost _nonexistent_ "So…"

"I like this song" Alya announced.

Well. That opening he could use. "Uh… so, do you want to dance maybe?" he asked.

It was all the invitation she required, "Sure!" she grabbed ahold of his hand "let's go". The pair joined their friends on the dance floor, greeting them cheerfully as they all began to dance together.

A couple songs later, because, as Alya would later complain to Marinette, _'she did not get to have good things because the world hated_ her'; a loud crash interrupted them. Every eye turned towards the south entrance, where a big hole replaced the ballroom. The akuma was a woman this time, the feminine form wearing a long flowy dress, her body hovering off the ground surrounded by a bright light. The glasses that could easily identify her as Sabrina were transformed into a pair of goggles, protecting her eyes from the world.

"There's a monster!" a girl screamed, causing the akuma to focus her attention on her.

"I am _not_ a monster" the powerful voice said "I am spotlight, and I will _not be ignored!"_ With that, she pointed one hand to the girl, a beam of blue light shooting out of her palm, and the girl immediately began turning transparent, like a crystal sculpture, frozen in her spot.

That was when the chaos began.

Marinette and Adrien shared a look, they had to flee the scene and get somewhere where they could transform. "Let's go" Marinette said, "We have to get out before she gets to us" Adrien's hand closed on hers as they began to walk towards the closest exit. They had to find a place to transform now.

Alya's phone was out in a flash, but Nino took charge of that and began dragging a backwards Alya towards one of the opposite exits. At her sputtering complaints he shook his head, his arm firm as he tried to direct his friend towards a safe spot. "Nope" he said, "you can film from the outside"

"But Ladybug and Chat Noir will be here soon!" she said, her phone fixed on the action, "I can have

"Last time you were almost _sacrificed, remember?"_ Nino pointed out, "We're _leaving_." With that, the two of them began to head towards the door, as quickly as the mass of moving teenagers would allow.

Marinette and Adrien had gained some distance on them, and were almost out of the door. They wanted to transform, but first they needed to make sure that they had made it out of the danger zone. And the longer they took to transform; the longer time _Spotlight_ had to zap people into the zombies she seemed to be making.

Thankfully, all through the chaos, it was easy to find a door marked _'Storage. Authorized personnel only'_ and the couple quickly ducked inside, their disappearance ignored by the panicked people outside.

It was a small room, where they evidently kept the supplies to tend to the hotel upstairs. Travel sized toiletries were carefully stacked on one table and there was an abandoned cart filled with sheets that were probably going to take to the laundry room.

The duo transformed, two flashes lighting up the room quickly as they donned their superhero gear. Marinette, set on her Ladybug mode, walked towards a window, peeking her head outside as she plotted out a plan "I can swing from here and you can jump on that beam" she said, her eyes mapping out a route for the both of them. "Let's meet on top of the ballroom" she said, her expression determined. "Ready?" It didn't matter if they smashed their way in, her healing light would take care of everything else afterwards.

"Ready"

Marinette Ladybug nodded, her yo-yo firm in her hand as she began to climb out the window, before pausing for a second and retreating for a second "Be careful, okay?" she said, stepping on the tip of her toes to kiss his cheek softly, "Meet you there!" she finished, before launching herself out the window, swinging towards her destination. Adrien Chat's eyebrow raised for a second; she was the one adamant on the _'no touching while on duty'_ rule. But hey, he wasn't about to complain. He waited a couple of seconds before looking outside and making his way towards the roof.

* * *

The duo made it inside the ballroom unnoticed. They crawled quietly to get a good view of the situation. "Not good" Marinette whispered.

Spotlight was _clearly_ _stronger_. She was _bigger_ in size, and it seemed that every person she managed to hit, besides turning into a transparent statue, added to her power. She was surrounded by them now, but there were still some people left inside that needed to be evacuated.

"I can't tell where the Akuma is" he said, her form didn't show any sort of point that might hold its weakness.

"Me neither" she bit her lower lip, her brow furrowed as she thought. "We'll worry about that later; we need to get her away from the people left in here. Are you ready?"

He nodded and sent a wink in her direction, before crouching and taking a running start towards the main floor. His hand gripped one of the banners that decorated the ballroom, and the slow tear slowed his fall enough so that his landing was soft and graceful.

Such a flair for the dramatic, that one.

As for her? She launched her yoyo, swinging herself into position, facing their villain. "Alright Spotlight" she said, swinging her yoyo beside her, assuming her battle stance. Chat took her side, watching her back from any sort of attack. "Give up _now!"_

"Just because finally people are paying attention to me?" The Akuma stood tall, "You wouldn't understand!" Her face contorted into an ugly sneer "Of course you wouldn't. Little ladybug, with her precious Chat Noir… _All of Paris loves you!"_ She aimed her hand at them and if it wasn't for quick reflexes and the fact that the spinning yoyo provided a safe shield; they would have been in serious trouble.

"The light beam!" A voice called out from under a nearby table. Marinette could recognize her as a girl from a grade below them. The lower part of her dress was singed "Be careful, it burns!"

The duo eyed the hole on the wall behind Spotlight… Well, that was good to know. Though it added another complex layer to the fight,

"We need to get everyone out of here" she said,

"I can distract her, get them out" Chat said, and using his baton, he pole-vaulted towards one of the walls.

She ran, towards the tables, ushering the students and staff that had lagged behind. Gathering them all underneath the upturned table that used to hold the refreshments. "When I say go… you run" She said. "We'll keep her distracted, but you _have_ to go. Understood?"

The group nodded, eyeing with scared eyes as Chat jumped to and from different places on the ballroom, barely avoiding the beams of light, which left burn marks on the walls.

Meanwhile, She aimed her yoyo at the same banner that Chat had used on his way down to the ballroom, detaching the last corner and swinging it towards the Akuma. She succeeded and the fabric covered Spotlight's face; giving Chat a reprieve from his evasive maneuvers and a chance for her to turn to the group "Go! NOW!" she shouted to them, half her attention divided between them and the struggling akuma and the group who was scrambling out of the ballroom. Thankfully, they were quick and they'd all made it outside. She turned to Chat "They're all out I think" she said

"I don't see anyone else" he replied, his green eyes scanning the room quickly; but they didn't have the chance to keep on discussing, since Spotlight had

"You TOOK THEM!" Spotlight shrieked "They were _MINE"_ she aimed her hand at them, a powerful yellow beam straight in their direction.

The duo jumped out of the way, just as a beam destroyed the place they were standing before. Ladybug rolled, crouched behind the same upturned table she had seen the girl before. Chat had crouched behind another piece of furniture and was currently peeking out

He tucked and rolled effortlessly towards Ladybug, peeking carefully towards where the akuma had absolutely _destroyed_ what was left of the stage. And she had still to find where the Akuma was hiding, "I still can't see it"

"I'm thinking either her bracelet, glasses or that flower thing she has " he said, signaling to his own chest area. It was just about the only few accessories she seemed to be wearing other than the actual dress. And he'd rather not have to undress an akuma, _thankyouverymuch_.

"Don't let her zap you" She said, hiding behind an overturned table. "We need to get her out of here. We'll never get to her in here" The ballroom was far too open, there weren't enough places they could hide. And with her powers, a straight on attack was far too dangerous.

"Roof?"

"That could work" She said, her blue eyes looking around quickly working out the logistics involved in their plan. "There's a skylight over there… if we make her follow us, that'd take us straight to the roof"

He nodded, "Leave that to me" he said, twirling his baton for a second as he crouched in a start position. "Are you ready?" he asked her, waiting for her nod before running out. The look on his face was taunting amusement, as he dodged the attacks thrown by the akuma. He parkoured from wall to wall until he reached the skylight, supporting his feet on the edge as he smashed his baton against the glass, breaking it into pieces that fell all over the Akuma.

This, of course, angered her greatly. Spotlight aimed her hands up at Chat but the blond disappeared through the opening. "Aaaaaargh!" the akuma screamed in frustration as she began hovering up, and as Ladybug noticed, not really fast. Clearly she was more of a _hoverer_ than a _flier_ and this was good information to have.

When she was sure that she could move again without getting _zapped to death_ , she flung her yoyo at the same window she'd used to enter the ballroom and climbed out of it with a practiced ease. She then made her way to the roof, where Chat was jumping back and forward, avoiding her attacks with ease.

She realized that Spotlight was raising her hand so she swung her yoyo at her, so that it wrapped tightly around her hand, and she yanked, _hard._ "No you don't" she growled, the strength in her pull making the Akuma tumble on the roof.

A few of the roof tiles tumbled down, sliding down the slanted roof and crashing down the side of the building. They had to be careful.

"Always in time my Lady" Called out Chat, his voice flirty as he twirled his baton.

"Not now!" she said, as she recovered her yo yo, rolling her eyes at Chat's chuckles. That boy, _honestly._ Timing!

"You people" the akuma said, standing up and brushing its hair out of her face "You don't understand how easy you have it, do you?" she pressed her hands together and light began gathering, she began to separate her hands and it was clear what weapon she was going to use now.

Fireballs? _Great._

Chat flew off towards Ladybug, avoiding the attack narrowly. "You have to _cool off lady_!" he said, sliding on the roof, some tiles flying off as he slowed down, his stance ready to jump off again. Ladybug swung off her yoyo in front of them, effectively creating a shield for now, causing the latest fireball to ricochet back towards the Akuma, causing it to stumble back a few steps and scream in rage.

"Chat…"

"Sorry" he said, grinning at the girl.

"LOOK AT ME" the akuma screamed, "Stop ignoring me!" she fired short beams of light at them, which had them scrambling to find a safe spot. Eventually, they hid behind the maintenance access on the roof.

"I think I got it" Ladybug said "She protected her chest, probably hiding that flower brooch she has" She wasn't sure but it was worth a shot.

Chat nodded "worth a try… we need to hurry up though" he said, eyeing the dots on her earrings, she was down to two… it wouldn't last long.

"Cover me for a second, I need to get lucky charm." Chat nodded and was off. She quickly invoked her magical power, then looked at the item in her hands. What? She quickly looked around, trying to find the clues to finish this quickly.

But then, she looked up and saw Chat flat on the ground, the akuma advancing menacingly towards him. "Give me the miraculous!" The Akuma said, one of her hands stretched out to him, and the other holding what could only be described as a fireball.

 _No._ Ladybug decided to repeat her strategy and threw her yoyo at her arm, again yanking it back so that she wouldn't be able launch her fireball at him.

The problem was that while that strategy worked, it also left Ladybug tied to Spotlight… meaning that one swift swing of the Akuma's strong arm, sent the heroine flying. She managed to land on the roof, but the tile she stepped on was loose, which caused her to slip and fall backwards with a loud yelp. She somehow managed to hold on to the edge of the roof, but she knew that everything was about to go to hell… Her miraculous was just almost out of time, and while she was climbing back on the roof… this was just not good. "Hold on Tikki" she muttered under her breath, "just a little bit longer" She had the lucky charm in hand, she just needed to use it.

Her earring was beeping loudly, she was sure she was down to her last spot, but the akuma was advancing back on Chat and she just couldn't let that happen.

"GO BACK!" he said, fully aware of the beeping. She didn't have enough time. "I'll hold her off for now" She needed to feed Tikki and _then_ get back here.

"I got it!" she insisted, standing by his side as she looked at the raging akuma, who then turned her attention back to her, giving Chat the opportunity to get back on his feet and gain a better ground. They were finishing this _now._

Ladybug jumped and kicked her, making her stumble and giving her the seconds she needed managing to go around her and next to Chat "You…" he began, ready to insist that she'd go and _recharge_ , but she shook her head.

"We're almost done." she said. If this didn't work out, she'd retreat, but she could make it, she knew it. Besides, the akuma was dangerous, and one of those fireballs could _seriously_ hurt Adrien. And they were _so_ close that it wasn't a chance she wanted to take. "On my mark" she told him, eyeing as the Akuma began "Trip her and I'll get the brooch"

Alright then, "Now!" she said, and they both launched at a very surprised Akuma, who thanks to Chat's baton, fell promptly on her back, leaving her brooch completely exposed for a second. After that, it was child's play. The brooch was destroyed, and the butterfly cleansed.

The only issue was that her earrings were beeping nonstop. She had _never_ gotten this much time out of the earrings and now that it was all over… she was beginning to worry.

A very confused Sabrina was sitting on the roof, fearfully looking around. "What… what happened"

"Nothings wrong, you're safe now!" she didn't have time for their accustomed fist bump, and Adrien noticed the look on her face. "Take her back inside" she told him. "I have to go _now"_ the beeping wasn't stopping. She could hear Tikki's voice alerting her that she was _out of time._ She readied her yoyo and walked past Chat "I'll be at the supply room" she said, before taking a running start and swinging away.

Chat began ushering Sabrina towards the maintenance door, "Alright then, pretty lady, time to get you back to your friends" Sabrina was already inside, when he saw it. The flash of light, so familiar for whenever they transformed back to their normal selves… but they were outside and she had been flying off… _No_. This couldn't be. He shouldn't have been able to see the flash of light. She couldn't have transformed outside… Marinette would have fallen… there was nowhere else for her to go. Chat closed the door, leaving Sabrina inside. as he raced to the border of the building, looking for his girlfriend. "LADYBUG" he called out, but heard no answer. He just wanted to see a sign, any sign that assured him that she'd made it. But the night was dark and he couldn't see her anywhere… What if he just went straight to the room… same route he'd taken to get here…

"You won't make it." Plagg said, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "I can't hold on" They would have to go the normal way. "Get the girl inside and ditch her…I can't do anything else"

Chat's face was conflicted, he wanted to try _and reach that window_ ; but Plagg sounded far too serious for once. And Chat _believed_ him. The blond sighed; he needed to _run_ now. He hurriedly directed Sabrina towards the ballroom, which was thankfully restored again. He then found the first empty room he could to transform back into himself and then ran.

He _needed_ to find Marinette before the people were let back into the hotel.

* * *

Marinette's transformation hit just as she'd reached the window, and she'd thankfully had managed to get her body through the opening before losing her powers. Unfortunately her landing had been less than smooth. Her body hit the border of one of the laundry carts and the air was knocked out right out of her lungs. She could hear Adrien's scared cry out for Ladybug, she just did not have the air inside her lungs to answer.

Marinette coughed, wincing as she tried to gasp to refill her lungs again. She whimpered, her body sore from the rough landing she'd taken. She began to lift herself up, supporting her weight on her hands and knees as she looked around. "Tikki!" she whispered, crawling towards her Kwami, who was splayed on the ground in a similar position. "Oh no, are you hurt?" she felt terrible right now. This was all her fault. She should have left…

The Kwami nodded, exhaustion clear on her tiny face "I'm… I need to rest" Marinette looked for her purse; damn it; she'd left it at the ballroom. She needed to get Tikki something to eat. Time to leave this room.

The dark haired girl began to push herself up, using one hand to hold on to the cart by her side and the other cradling the Kwami carefully. "Ow" her face contorted slightly, pain hummed, wincing as her sore body complained at the effort.

"Marinette, are you hurt?" Tikki said, worried looking at the wincing girl.

"I… don't think so." she said, she was sore and she was tired; but she'd live. Marinette kicked off her heels, "I fell wrong on my ankle, but I don't think it's broken" She extended her leg and rolled her feet; looking satisfied when she was able to do so without any issues. "I'm ok" she said, taking a deep breath; finally standing up straight, a wince marring her face as her sore muscles complained at the effort.

Now that she was safe and had transformed back… she realized just how bad a decision that had been. She'd almost ran out of time with her transformation. And if she had taken _onemore_ _minute_ on that rooftop… she could have died. The drop, from where she'd swung was substantial. It was probably her good luck powers that got Tikki to hold on as much as she had. "That was… _close"_.

Adrien had reached the Laundry room as fast as his legs allowed him, and had hesitated for a second before opening the door quietly. He was terrified at the idea of Marinette not being there. He walked inside, closing the door as quiet as he he'd opened it, letting go of a breath that he didn't know he was holding, when he heard the ruffling of fabric and Marinette's soft voice as she talked to Tikki.

He felt the need to intervene. "That was _too_ close" Adrien's expression was deadly serious and Plagg was for once quiet as he floated near him, before heading to his Kwami companion; dragging one of the sweet snacks that Adrien had managed to grab on his mad dash towards the storage room.

Marinette gasped as she turned around, her sore throat resenting the sudden intake of air, "You scared me" she said, as the blond walked over there. "Are _you_ okay?" He looked fine, other than the expression on his face, but it was never a bad thing to ask.

Adrien's face was serious "Marinette, you almost didn't make it" he said "I _saw_ the flash"

Marinette turned to look at him, her hands going to the dress, lifting it up so she could walk more easily towards him; without her heels, the hem dragged slightly on the floor. "I'm _fine_ though" His green eyes trailed over her face, as if looking for _any_ sort of evidence of an injury. "I'm just sore… nothing happened". She _knew_ she'd taken a huge risk; but thankfully, it had worked out just fine, there was no need to keep worrying about it. She knew now, she needed to recharge during long battles. "I know it was risky" she told him, "It won't happen again"

As for Adrien; he was now on the receiving end of the worry that Marinette had felt so many times when _he'd_ be the one to take the hit for her. When he realized that her transformation had ran out, and knowing that he couldn't do anything about it. "You should have gone and de-transformed. Should have given Tikki a chance to regain her energy" he said, his expression serious and non-changing. She had almost not made it.

Yes. That _would_ have been the better plan, but she'd miscalculated. "I thought I had the time" she said "she was _advancing_ on you" she told him; for someone as meek and malleable as Sabrina, she'd been terrifyingly strong as an Akuma. "I wasn't going to leave you there!"

"I could have waited!" he said "held her off while you came back." The blond sighed exasperatedly "Marinette, you almost _fell._ " he said, not able to even say what had really terrified him. She could have _died._ A _couple_ seconds later, and she definitely could have.

Marinette grabbed his hands and placed them on each side of her face "Adrien. I'm fine. I'm _here_ " she told him.

His thumbs traced a soft circle on her cheek, feeling slightly more at ease, now that he had her close. This was not how tonight was supposed to go down. But then again, nothing really went according to plans when it came to things like this. Hawkmoth was always on the lookout for a chance to get their miraculous, and that wasn't going to stop. It was just… tonight had been difficult, and he'd been so _scared for her._ And that was something that he'd never really felt before. Sure, he'd been somewhat worried, but she was always on top of everything, so his worry was always short lived and easy to ignore. He completely understood now why they had to be careful while in their personas, because any sort of weakness that Hawkmoth could spot between them _would_ be abused to hurt them.

He just placed his hands on the side of her face, tilting it up so he could look at her better and pressed his lips against hers. There was just so much he needed to say to her, and he had no idea how to do so. He had been scared, downright terrified at the thought of losing her. There was also the elation when he got to the room, and was finally assured that she'd made it, she was _okay_ ; and of course, he was _frustrated_ , because she could be just as stubborn like he was when it came to things like this.

Stop. He needed not to think about that, not now.

His hands tilted her face slightly, and he pulled her lower lip between his, nipping at it softly. Marinette sighed against him and pulled him closer, her fingers reaching into his hair, as she tugged his head down to her. Her right hand was at his waist, her fingers gripping the fabric, clinging on to him for _dear life._ Her tongue traced the outline of his lips, and it was like the air between them _shifted_ ; and then they were kissing, _really_ kissing.

Adrien grunted, low and deep in her chest, his feet stumbling forward as he moved, pressing his pretty girlfriend against the table behind them; because he needed to feel her closer, _so much closer,_ because everything that had been before just simply wasn't _enough._ His hand gripped her hip, his fingers digging into her, pressing her as close to him as he could; before it slid up to her waist and then to the small of her back, his grip strong and desperate.

Her lips had the faint taste of the lip balm she liked to use, the sweet, fruity generic flavor being his line back to sanity at this moment, and he didn't want to let go of her anytime soon. She was _fine_ , they made it _and they were fine_. He pressed his palm on the table behind her, bracing himself as he leaned over her, his eyes closed tight as he pulled her lower lip between his, thoroughly enjoying the squirm that it earned him.

Marinette could feel the edge of the table digging into her tailbone, and considering everything, it might be sore tomorrow, but right now she couldn't find it in her to care about everything but _kissing him._ She stood up taller, her current shoe less state being of no help in getting closer to him.

His hand left their spot on the table, reaching to her face, his fingers diving into her dark hair as he tilted her face to the side, separating from her lips to trail small kisses on her jawline. He busied himself kissing where her jawline met her neck, and the breathy sound of his name leaving her lips was reward enough. Her hands left him and braced themselves against the table behind her, tilting her head back to give him all the access he could _ever_ need as long as he kept doing _that_.

She could hear the low grumble coming from him as both hands made their way to her hips and in one swift movement, he lifted her up and set her on top of the table, quickly reacquainting his mouth with her neck, tasting the spot right above her rapid pulse. One of her shaky hands reached behind her, so that she could have some balance and wouldn't topple backwards. Her other hand reached to his head, tangling in his blond locks, bringing him closer to her skin.

Her legs pressed against the sides of his hips, the pressure emboldening him to keep going, as he changed from kissing to biting on the delicate skin on her neck. There was far too much fabric between them, the full skirt of her dress being an obstacle to bring her as close as he wanted to, but he'd take what he could get. He broke apart to press soft kisses to where his teeth had been but was abruptly separated from her, as Marinette's hands went to his face, dragging him immediately back to her lips, kissing him again with renewed fervor.

Until a cough interrupted them. _Of course._ The couple broke apart quickly, still embraced as they turned their attention to the source. _Plagg_. The look on Adrien's face was pure exasperation as he turned towards his kwami. Seriously, the little feline had what could be considered the worst timing in the world.

" _Ahem_ " the feline kwami cleared his throat to get the couple's attention "So, now that you completely made sure that Marinette's _face_ is okay" He floated about, keeping his back _to them_ because _no one wanted to see that_. "How about we go?"

Tikki appeared by his side, looking better now that she'd eaten something "I hear people outside," she said "I think you should go and see what's going on".

While the kwamis had a point, the two had a rough time breaking apart. Marinette was still sitting on the table, her hands by her side as she tried to even out her breathing. "We…" It took her a second to realize that the raspy, shuddery voice was her own. Marinette licked her lips, "we should get back to the ballroom" she finished, her fingers trailing over her neck, trailing over the remnants of Adrien's excursion. She hopped off the table, linking her fingers with his for a brief second before going off to get ready to leave.

Adrien watched wordlessly, a dazed look on his face as she put on her shoes and smoothed out her dress. Marinette licked her lips, a new blush tinging her face before she chanced a shy glance at Adrien.

He just needed a _minute_ before leaving.

A couple minutes later, they had snuck out of the room and were quietly walking back towards the ballroom; his arm slung over her shoulders and her head resting against him. He'd draped his jacket over her shoulders, hoping that the collar on the jacket covered a small red spot on her neck, which was probably better left unseen.

People passed by them on every direction, some going to and back from the ballroom… it seemed that the party was mostly over. By now, the silence was beginning to worry him a little "Mari?" he said, lowering his head to whisper by her ear.

"Hmm?"

"Was that… _ok?"_ He felt so awkward asking that, but the last thing he wanted to do was… pressure her into anything. He hated the fact that his face was heating up, but willed his expression to stay normal.

She didn't look up at him as she answered, but he could see the blush reaching the top of her cheeks, the freckles that dusted her face hiding behind the pink color. " _Mmhmm_ " she hummed, nodding her head and squeezing his fingers lightly. More than okay. _Really_.

Adrien chuckled, and lightly squeezed her against him.

"There you are!" Alya's voice made them stop in their tracks. The girl was walking with Nino by his side and was holding in her hands what seemed to be Marinette's purse. "We looked everywhere for you… outside. Where were you?"

Adrien and Marinette shared a look before he hurried an explanation "Uh… we got stuck inside, so we just hid while everything got sorted out"

Nino simply snorted at that explanation, an amused look taking over his face. Alya looked at her friend then back at the couple, her brown eyes glancing between her friend's neck and Adrien's face.

At least he had the grace to blush at Alya's amused look. He should probably tell Marinette that he might have left a souvenir on her so that she took _precautions_ when she got home. He'd prefer that her father didn't found out about him as the _'guy who chewed his daughter's neck'_.

"Hey guys!" Mylene interrupted the group, a sweet look on her face. "Are you guys coming?"

The couple turned a confused look at his friends, and Nino was quick to explain. "So" the boy began _"This_ is over" he gestured towards the ballroom door. "But Alix said we could go hang out at her place. Get something to eat or something"

That actually sounded… fun. With everything that had happened, they'd barely had a chance to greet their friends. "It is pretty early" Marinette said, turning towards her boyfriend. They had all gotten dressed up for this… it'd be a shame to get back home so early.

"Sure" Adrien said, he just needed not to call his driver for a while. The conditions for his attending had been carefully stipulated, and since it was only Natalie at home to verify his arrival time… As long as he got home before his curfew, it would be fine.

"Great!" Mylene said, "Hurry up, we're all waiting outside!" the girl smiled at them and hurried off towards the exit.

The four friends stood for a second, before Alya said "Come on crazy kids" She said, "Let's go before they leave without us." She hooked her arm with Nino's as they walked "And don't worry Mari, I have concealer on my bag so we can solve that" she finished, brown eyes glancing at her neck teasingly.

Marinette's eyes widened as her hand flew to her neck, feeling her face and neck heat up with a blush. Adrien just pulled the collar on the jacket so that it would cover her neck better and flashed an apologetic smile at his girlfriend.

Nino just plain out burst out laughing. "Told you they were _not trapped"_ he told Alya and grinned at her "pay up"

The girl huffed "Double or nothing next time?" She asked him

"Sure"

"Eventually I'm going to tell them off for betting on us" Marinette said, watching as their friends got ahead of them on their way out. "I'll let them have this tonight" At least until she got a chance to speak with Alya in private.

As the friends piled into a taxi to go to Alix's house, Adrien felt… actually happy. Sure, the formal had been ruined, and sometimes their secret identities were an actual obstacle into normal lives… but now, he realized, as Alya brought out her cellphone for a group selfie, and their two friends squished them in the middle, he found that he didn't care.

Being Adrien Agreste wasn't normal, and he'd been in that reality all his life. Until _now._ Being Chat Noir wasn't normal either, but at least his life now had a new different kind of _crazy normalcy_ that he could _definitely_ get used to.


End file.
